Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

March 5, 2015

From goodreads:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Review…

What have I been waiting all these years! I have seen this book in many favorite Goodreads list and every time I read the blurb about cyborgs, I passed. I just didn’t know how the author can write a likable robotic cyborg with emotions…boy was I wrong. I’ve seen the beautiful, drool worthy cover of ‘Fairest’ multiple times. Walking by it in the store repeatedly I knew I must start the series to get to that cover, that same night I purchased Cinder.

“Red warnings flashed across her vision until, in an act of cyborg self-preservation, her brain forced her to shut down.”

Cinder is a cyborg, renowned mechanic in New Beijing living with her step-mother and two step-sisters. The Commonwealth with a deadly plague affecting the citizens in a rapid pace. The palace research team have been testing antidotes on ‘volunteered’ cyborgs. Cinder is safe for the time being since she’s the only bread winner for her wicked step mother guardian. A visit by the prince Kai to Cinder’s shop lands them both in a surprisingly ride of emotions. Cinder find herself in her mothers wrath, teetering on be volun-told to the research team. Kai has much to worry about, like the Lunar queen coming to visit the Commonwealth and making extreme demands of a peace treaty. The Lunar citizen are gifted beings that can manipulate the mind. They are feared by their savagery and sadistic leaders. Cinder happens to catch the eye of the demented Queen Levana and it’s not a good thing.

Cinder has so much more than the short synopis paragraph shares. It is fairy tale retelling of a twist in the classic Cinderella with many spins of a new world and unique characters. It has the outline with many more elements added such as the plague, androids, dystopia setting. Other tale favorites are introduced, (my favorite) a Rapunzel makes a sneak peek and the evil step mother, two to be exact!

The world building was not as detailed as I would have preferred. Open questions were left as is and settled to just because. The author nonetheless was very daring in jumping into this dystopian/apocalyptic style with many features. The plot and ultimate revealing was easily decoded within the first few chapters. Even if so, I still wanted to know how the whole story was going to play out.

Romance was not a center point in the story but it was well blended with a couple of swoon moments of the leading prince Kai. Cinder she was whiny at times, literally stomped her foot and played the ‘not my fault’ card. She was dealt with not a stellar hand in life which played on her faulty. At the same time, she was clever and determined to do right even if it cost her her life. Cinder’s sarcastic comments were entertaining as well as Kai’s.

“I’m sure I’ll fell much more grateful when I find a guy who thinks complex wiring in a girl is a turn-on.”

Queen Levana, the villain in this story was very intriguing. Her debut was short and I definitely want to read more on her character and Lunar in general! The snippets the book shared of the leaders was dark and disturbing making a ruthless evil queen. I think a villain is as important as the leading character to really put the book in it’s flow.

The book doesn’t touch much on how cyborgs came about other than they were given a second chance in life. It lets the readers know there was a war that caused this new one and Lunar’s made their appearance within that time frame. This is a continuous series so it may just be answered throughout the books to come.

“Lunars were a society that had evolved from an Earthen moon colony centuries ago, but they weren’t human anymore.”

I did read the blurb of book two and I will admit I skimmed a few reviews, they were wish washy. It seems Cinder story may not be continued in book two but a new fairy tale will be focused on as well… I will be reading the whole series and recommend this book! By the way, huge cliffhanger!

About Pandora

Addicted to the ‘one-click’ magical button providing me with endless choices of book boyfriends! Blogger/Reviewer and part-time comical entertainer (selective hours vary on mood ring) at Pandora’s Opened Box! Excited to share my obsessing reading thoughts with other book fans!

Comments

This is next on my TBR list so I basically skimmed your review xD Everyone I know loves it really, I have heard nothing but praise for this series – happy to hear your loved it as well!Benish recently posted…Book Tour #16: ♥ Beauty & The Bridesmaid | Review

Hey Sarah! I know! It wasn’t just any cliffhanger either, it literally left us high and dry! Exactly, we don’t have to wait long for the new release this year which is the conclusion for the series. I’m actually super excited to read Scarlet with Wolf the street fighter…um yes please! We will see if the world is built more in upcoming books, I sure hope so Thanks for stopping by!

Congratulations! And welcome to the madness. This is one of those few series that I watch every year. Just wait until you meet Wolf & Scarlet. *swoon*Joy // Joyousreads recently posted…[501]: On the Edge by Ilona Andrews

I think I was like you for this one. It was a really nice book and I confess that after such an end I’m curious to see what will happen but for that I should buy book 2…Melliane recently posted…Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison

I absolutely adored Cinder, Pandora so i’m thrilled that you did too! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the sequels since they jut get better and better!Lily recently posted…Red Queen (Red Queen#1):Review

Cinder and Kai are very much a part of the story in books 2 and 3, they even get their own POV’s. Same goes for Scarlet in book 3. It’s a story about all of them!
Gla dyou like dthis one!Nereyda @Mostly YA Book Obsessed recently posted…Audiobook Review: Fractured by Sarah Fine!

So glad you finally read it and really enjoyed the retelling Pandora. This series is one of my favourites and I agree, it’s a must read! I loved Cinder and Kai and wanted more of them in the 2nd book as well. The second wasn’t my favourite, but Cress and Fairest are amazing too. Great review!Jeann @ Happy Indulgence recently posted…Chatterbox: How do you cope with a slow book? [POLL]

Glad to see that you finally surrendered to our Queen Meyer Haha! But kidding aside, I think you’ll appreciate the next books so much more. IMO, they were far more engaging and riveting and vast than Cinder, as the series simply improves exponentially each installment!Faye M. recently posted…ARC Review: The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma